When you were little you probably had one of those books that had a hundred ”connect the dots” pictures just waiting for you to complete. You know the one with the dots that were so close together it wasn’t very hard to see what the picture was going to make once completed. As I would flip through the book I could see the pictures that were there and I would systematically eliminate the ones I didn’t want to do. Once I found the one I wanted I would go to town, 1-2-3 until the picture was fully there.
I think this is a perfect example of what so many people are looking for when it comes to being a successful entrepreneur. A step by step, connect the dots guide to success. If that’s the case your setting yourself up for failure.
Don’t Expect All The Dots To Be Connected
As an entrepreneur getting started on your ideas, following a new plan or embarking on the next phase of your business goals is not going to be a completed picture that only requires you to connect the dots. Unfortunately many won’t even begin the process unless they can see what the total picture is going to look like. The problems with this approach are two fold.
First, when you ask any successful entrepreneur to reflect back on when they started out , most will tell you the end results were not what they envisioned at first. The process of being an entrepreneur might start out in one direction, creating one picture, only to turn in another and create something completely different, most the time even better than imagined.
The second is that you run the risk of not pursuing ideas because you think you can see all the dots and the picture it creates. The problem with this is very rarely do things turn out to “look” exaclty like we thought. Many great ideas are killed before they even get a chance to be introduced, tried and tested. The possibility of passing up a brilliant idea based on what you think you see is one of the biggest mistakes you can make.
If It Was As Easy As Connect The Dots Everyone Could Do It
The thing with those connect the dots pictures was that anyone could do them. It was simple, you just followed 1-2-3 and so forth until you “magically” had this beautiful picture. However the simplistic nature of those pictures meant they held very little value (unless your 3 year old gives you one). The point is no one would look at one and say “Wow, that’s creative, that’s unique, that’s valuable, that took a long time.” The same holds true for wanting a step by step guide to being successful. It’s a shame but that’s exactly what people are looking for today. The problem is that if it was as easy as 1-2-3 then everyone could do it and it wouldn’t be anything special.
Don’t Buy Into Connect The Dots Systems
The thing that irritates me are the “systems” that are sold claiming to help you achieve success by following simple steps. There is not a “connect the dots” formula to success. It doesn’t exist. There are certainly processes, direction and strategy that lead to success, but the so called “systems” that promise a step by step guide to perfection just don’t work.
Once You Start Many Of The Dots Connect Themselves
Unfortunately those pictures required you to connect all the dots in order to fully complete the picture. The exciting thing about starting on that new idea is that as you continue to make progress and go in directions you hadn’t foreseen you will find that more and more of the dots ahead end up connecting themselves. The directions you go on start to take form and shape and become even more clear. It’s as if your success is forming itself.
Start connecting those dots and watch your art come to life.
Let me know what you think, leave a comment below. Oh and why there is no system so to speak I do talk about processes and strategy that lead to success in my newsletter. Sign up today to hear more.
